Shooting garment



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SHOOTING GARMENT Filed May 24, 1947 Patented Jan. 3, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SHOOTING GARMENT Howard 0. Smith, Des Moines, Iowa Application May 24, 1947, Serial No. 750,293

6 Claims. 1

The principal object of my invention is to provide a shooting coat or jacket that is so padded and designed as to afford great comfort in use.

A further object of this invention is to provide a target shooting garment that has fitted curved sleeves in order to eliminate uncomfortable sleeve distortion when the arms of the user are in a firing position.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a shooting garment that is successfully padded against the usual discomfort experienced during shooting, while at the same time permitting free movement of the arms of the user at all times.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a shooting garment designed and padded for the use of rifles having sling straps.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a shooting garment for prone, kneeling, sitting, and standing shooting positions.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a padded shooting garment that is refined in appearance, durable in use, and economical in manufacture.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front view of my garment ready for use.

Fig. 2 is a left side viewof my garment in use.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the left arm sleeve of the garment, taken on line 3--3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the left arm sleeve of my garment, taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Shooting garments are universally used by sportsmen and are intended to provide comfort to the shooter and increase the accuracy of his shooting. Such garments usually have a pad element over each elbow portion, and a pad element at the gun butt arm socket. Such garments, however, do not have either proper pads at the gun butt, arm socket, nor properly designed and positioned padding around the sleeve where the gun sling strap embraces it. Furthermore, the sleeves of such shooting garments are not properly curved to fit the arms of the user when the gun is at the shoulder and the arms are bent. I have overcome such objections by providing a properly padded and designed shooting garment giving both comfort and protection and freedom of movement.

Referring to the drawings, I have used the numeral Ill to designate the body portion of my garment. The actual design of this portion of the garment is not material, provided it is of proper fit and provided with the usual pockets. The important phases of my garment are the sleeves, padding, and gun butt arm socket pad.

Both the left and right sleeves of the garment may be of the same general construction and in the drawings I show them as each made of three main sections, i. e., the upper arm section II, the middle arm section I2, and the lower arm section I3. Each of these portions II, It, and I3 is substantially cylindrical with the upper edge of the portion I I sewed to the arm pit of the body of the jacket and with its lower marginal edge sewed to the upper marginal edge of the portion I2. The lower marginal edge of the portion I2 is sewed to the upper marginal edge of the portion I3, as shown in Fig. 1. The free sides of these portions are secured together by the seam I5. This seam I4 is not under the arm as in most coats, but is well up and to the front of the sleeve, as shown in Fig. 1. The length of the back of each of the portions I I, I2, and I3 is greater than their respective lengths at the front and at this seam and by and because of this construction the sleeves are not straight tubes, but are curved forwardly and downwardly, as shown in Fig. l, to better fit the bent arms of the shooter at the time the gun is at the shoulder position. This shaping of the sleeves of the garment is very important as well as the forward placement of the sleeve seam I4. If desired, a small gore I5 may be inserted in the sleeve to further effect its shaping during manufacture. The numeral I6 designates an elbow pad sewed on the section I2 of each sleeve. The numeral II designates the gun butt shoulder pad sewed on the front of the body portion In and the front portion I I of the right sleeve. This pad I? has its lower marginal edge portion split a substantial distance at the arm hole seam, as shown in Fig. 1. This construction permits a large effective shoulder pad, giving both protection to the chest and upper portion of the arm of the user, while at the same time permitting free and comfortable movement. The numeral I8 designates the gun sling pad on the portion I I of the left sleeve. This pad element I8 is in the shape of a band extending transversely of the length of the sleeve and has its two ends terminating a slight distance apart and at each side of the seam I4, as shown in Fig. 3. The top marginal edge of this pad extends to a line just under the arm pit and its lower marginal edge terminates above and in spaced relationship to the elbow pad N of the left sleeve. In the manufacture of my garment the pads I6 and I8 are sewed onto the sections of the sleeves before the sleeves are put together and onto the body portion of the garment. By the construction of my sleeves the elbow pads l6 and the gun sling pad l8 do not overlap any seams, thereby not only making for a, comfortable garment, but facilitating manufacture and permitting the proper shaping of the sleeves. In use, the gun sling strap l9 completely embraces the arm with the pressure on the back, outer side, and inner side of the pad l8. By providing a space between the ends of the pad Hi, the sling strap may tightly pull and fit the pad l8 around the upper arm of the user with the resultant slack in the sleeve taking place between the two ends of the pad, as shown in Fig. 4. By the seam l4 being between the two ends of the pad is it will bunch up between the pad with the rest of the slack of the sleeve, at which position it will not cut into or bind on the arm of the shooter. As all of the wrinkling of the sleeve when the gun sling .is tightened will be between the two ends of the pad IS, the back and two sides of the pad and the portion of the sleeve it embraces will fit snugly around the muscle of the arm of the user without Wrinkles. This important feature of my garment makes it automatically conform to the size of the arm of the shooter at the time .of firing with the pad l8 substantially completely surrounding the arm. The garment shown in the drawings is for right handed shooters. Obviously, for left handed shooters, the pad 11 would be put to the left shoulder and the pad 18 on the right sleeve. Most pad elements are preferably of pliable leather and are formed by sewing their marginal edge portions to the garment and placing suitable padding material 2i: between the leather and the garment.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of my improved shooting garment without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim:

1. In a shooting garment, a body portion, two sleeve portions, a longitudinalseam on one of said sleeves, a gun sling pad element on said lastmentioned sleeve extending transversely thereof and having its two ends terminating a distance from each other and at each .sideof said seam respectively, and an elbow pad .on one of .said sleeves.

In a shooting garment, .a body portion, two sleeve portions, a longitudinal seam on one of sleeves and substantially at the front of the same, a gun sling pad element on said last-mentioned sleeve extending transversely thereof and having its two ends terminating a distance from each other and at each side of said seam respectively, and an elbow pad on one of said sleeves.

3. In a shooting garment, a body portion, two sleeve portions, a gun sling pad element extending transversely of one of said sleeves and having its two ends spaced apart, a longitudinal seam on the sleeve embraced by said gun sling pad element and extending between the two ends of said gun sling padelement, an elbow pad on each of said sleeves, and a gun butt shoulder pad secured to said garment.

4. In a shooting garment, a body portion, two sleeve portions, a gun sling pad element extending transversely of one of said sleeves and having its two ends spaced apart, a longitudinal seam on the sleeve embraced by said gun sling pad element and extending between the two ends of said gun sling pad element, and a gun butt shoulder pad having a portion secured -to the body of said garment .and a portion secured to one of said sleeves; said gun butt shoulder pad having a slit in its lower marginal portion adjacent the arm hole seam of the garment and sleeve to which the same is secured.

5,. In a shootin garment, a body portion, two sleeve portions; at least one of said sleeves comprising an upper substantially cylindrical portion, a middle substantially cylindrical portion, and a lower substantially cylindrical portion sewed together and having their back portions of a length greater than their .front portions for providing a sleeve curving downwardly and forwardly, an elbow pad secured to the middle portion of said last-mentioned sleeve, a gun sling strap pad secured to the upper portion of said last-mentioned sleeve and having two spaced apart ends, and a longitudinal seam .on said last-mentioned sleeve extending the length .of said sleeve and passing between the two ends of said gun sling strap pad.

.6. The method .of making and forming the sleeve of a shooting garment, comprising; the forming of a substantially cylindrical portion by seaming the two ends of a strip of cloth together; the securing of a pad element on said strip of cloth before it is seamed, the forming of a second substantially cylindrical portion by seaming the twoends of a strip of cloth together, the securing of a padelement to said second portion before it is seamed; said .two cylindrical portions having their seams to the front and with their back portions of a length greater than their front portions, and lastly the sewing of the two sections together.

HOWARD 0. SMITH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,063,469 Smith Dec. 8, 1936 2,302,868 Evans Nov. 17, 1942 

